Autor: Wolfgang Kersten

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing companies. To be able to define strategies for decarbonizing their business activities, companies need to start accounting for their emissions. Calculating Scope 3 emissions is a complex, resource- intensive, and often imprecise process for companies. By using digital technologies, Scope 3 carbon accounting can become more transparent, efficient, and secure. This article highlights the potential of digital technologies in Scope 3 carbon accounting.

The COVID-19 crisis had an unmistakable impact on the procurement situation in global supply chains, to which companies had to adapt quickly. The effects make it clear that to reduce risks, companies must address the structure and transparency of supply chains. The following article examines what knowledge the actors have and how digitalization can lead to further improvement. The results show that companies currently have little supply chain knowledge beyond their direct suppliers, but are increasingly able to obtain the supply chain data they require. At the same time, the results indicate that there is still potential to increase transparency and the use of data.

Blockchain is seen as an enabler to increase the efficiency, transparency, and security of information exchange in supply chains. An important application area is maritime logistics, as blockchain facilitates the digitalization of documents and increases the efficiency of the processes. In this article, we elaborate on the example of temperature-controlled container transports the potential for adopting blockchain and the requirements to be considered from the technological and organizational environment.

Additive manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly important in industry and enable the cost-e ective production of complex components in small quantities. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular can bene t from the high customization potential enabling the development of new business models. However, the widespread use of additive processes faces high production costs and technological challenges. Meanwhile, scienti c research focuses on the optimization of individual process steps of additive manufacturing and does not o er su cient support for SMEs. Therefore, this paper deals with the development of a cross-process value chain of additive manufacturing for SMEs. Based on a systematic analysis of scienti c literature, relevant additive manufacturing processes were investigated, and a cross-process value chain was derived. The results were veri ed by expert interviews and central research and development requirements were extracted.

A successful digital transformation for attaining Industry 4.0, is a crucial success criterion for many companies today. The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need for digitalization in companies and has further accelerated this development. However, these times, companies are confronted with an uncertain order and profit situation. Thus, they need to allocate their investments purposefully. Evaluating the digital maturity by using a profound indicator system is therefore a sound basis for decision making. This paper develops such a sociotechnical KPI model along the dimensions “Strategy and Organizational Leadership”, “Digital Skills/Human Capital” as well as “Smart Process/Operations”. In the future, this model can be used for determining the digital maturity and thus, it can be applied for allocating digitalization investments.

In view of the digital transformation, companies are facing radical changes which could have a big impact on their business success. Change management could help companies to deal with this transformation and to avoid the risk of losing market share to more innovative companies. The more important question at this stage is if traditional Change management models handle this topic well or if they must be adjusted. This article identifies challenges and success factors by using a literature analysis and a survey, by means of which an adapted model for successful Change management is generated.

Blockchain technology is expected to have great potential for success, especially in logistics and supply chain management. In the following, the Blockchain project “Release Order based on Blockchain (ROboB)” in the Port of Hamburg will be discussed in particular. The analysis showed that in addition to positive aspects, the core characteristics of the Blockchain could also represent obstacles for logistics business. Therefore, this paper examines whether transparency is an important design consideration when using blockchain in logistics and the supply chain.

When aiming for an Industry 4.0 vision, companies are well-advised to not only focus on technology and data. With any digital transformation, the careful consideration of all elements of the company’s “socio-technical triangle” (man, technology, and organization) is a central success factor. Based on a qualitative survey, we identified qualification, organization, and leadership as central dimensions of the work system. Integrative measures include identification of competence requirements, training in data-thinking as well as agile working methods and structures. Finally, leadership plays a central role in orchestrating the digital transformation.